Rival of Mars
by Calliope Faye
Summary: The last of a group of heroes must figure out who is friend and who is foe before it's too late...
1. The Beginning

It was the most intense football game of the season! The Juniper High Panthers were down 14:20 and less than a minute remained in the last quarter. Miranda Kolovski made her way up the field with the ball, knowing that this was the last down, and if she didn't score now, the Panthers would lose to their archrivals, the Saint Bernadette Timber Wolves.  
  
A lot of people at school did not think of Miranda as an actual member of the football team for two reasons. One was that she was the only girl varsity football playing in a 50-mile radius. Two, she was there were no sophomores on the team, let alone freshmen, which is what she was. The rest were juniors and seniors. There was a great deal of controversy on the subject in the halls, but on the field was another story. Every last one of her teammates supported her because they knew she had what it takes. She was reasonably strong, quite agile, and very fast, and not to mention extremely cute.  
  
As she was running, Miranda felt a strange sensation, an eerie tingling in her spine that was no mere case of nerves. She wasn't sure what is was, but she had to focus on the game. It was probably just her imagination.  
  
Suddenly, she saw one of the boys from the Timber Wolves coming up on her right side. He was bigger than she was, and a lot faster with his uniform, and there was no one farther up the field for her to pass to. That meant that she was going to have to outwit him.  
  
Before he could make the tackle, she took him by surprise by doing the last thing he expected her to do. "Hi there! What's up?" she said in a friendly, non-competitive voice.  
  
He was so taken aback that he completely forgot to tackle. He just ran alongside her, merely keeping up. 15 yards.she thought, keeping her eyes trained on the goal line.  
  
"Um.hi. Your voice.You must be that Miranda Kolovski girl everyone was talking about, right."  
  
"In the flesh. But my friends call me Andi." 5 yards.  
  
He didn't hear the people in the crowd screaming, "What are you doing?! TACKLE! TACKLE!"  
  
"The name's Kirk. Kirk VanHuseign."  
  
"TOUCHDOWN!"  
  
"WHAT?!" His jaw dropped and he just stared at Andi, who pulled off her helmet revealing a gorgeous freckled face with spring-green eyes and long, blazing orange hair pulled back in a small bun which ran into a ponytail reaching halfway down her back.  
  
She smiles at him and reached out to shake his hand. Hey, Kirk. No hard feelings, right? ...Kirk?"  
  
He didn't answer. He just stared. After a moment, he snapped out of his daze. "Huh? What?"  
  
"I said 'No hard feelings?'"  
  
He shook her hand and laughed. "Yeah, no hard feelings. I just can't believe I fell for that!"  
  
"Don't sweat it! Things like this always happen. It's natural for guys to do things like that when they're dealing with girls," and she nudged him with her elbow a bit. "C'mon! Justin has to kick the field goal."  
  
"Hey, Andi.Can I call you that?"  
  
"Sure. Why not?"  
  
".Good question. I just wanted to say that.well.you're cute, you know?"  
  
"Thanks, Kirk. You're cute too." She smiled at him again and winked, and he turned several shades of red. "They're waiting for us, so I'll talk to you after the game, okay?"  
  
"You bet it's okay!" he said with a little more enthusiasm than he meant to show. "I'll talk to you later, Andi." But they never got the chance.  
  
As Justin Alberts prepared to kick the field goal, the ground began to shake. He lost his balance, missed the kick, and fell on his rear. There was a brief silence when a huge shadow fell over Justin, and then mass hysteria broke out in the crowd. People began screaming and fighting their way through the panicking crowd to get away from the creature.  
  
It was the size of a school bus with a scorpion tail, a horse head, rhino horns, and a body like that of a dinosaur: tough, scaly, and most importantly, clawed. In one hand, it held a transparent sphere, that looked as though it were meant to contain something, although now it was empty.  
  
It stood over Justin with its free hand on his shoulder. He howled and screamed and kicked to break free but it was no use. Andi watched in horror as Justin's resistance grew weaker and weaker and weaker, and the sphere slowly began to fill up with a strange silver dust.  
  
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Andi screamed at the monster. She soon found herself to be the only one moving toward it instead of away. It didn't seem to notice her, so she decided to keep it that way for as long as she could and still save Justin.  
  
She crept up behind it on tiptoe, holding her breath out of tension. She could sense its awareness of her presence, but it was simply ignoring her. Justin's screams and kicks were suddenly silenced and his whole body went limp. The sphere was still half-empty, and continuing to fill up.  
  
What she did next was far too sudden for her to explain why she did it. She reached out and grabbed the ball and made a break for the gate with it. 


	2. Apollo

She heard a roar and the ground once more began to shake as it took off after her. She didn't need to look back. She somehow knew exactly how far back it was. She could feel a strange energy radiating from it. The feeling started in her skin, sank into her bones, crept up her spine, and took root in her brain. She tried to shut it out, but the force was too strong. It was the same energy she had sensed before, only then it was much more faint and distant.  
  
Momentarily, she sensed that the monster was not the only source of this new energy. It also came from the sphere she was holding in such amounts that it numbed her hand, and she was beginning to have trouble gripping it.  
  
Meanwhile, the beast was gaining on her, and by the time she was a block away, she could feel its hot breath on the back of her neck. The negative energy from the beast and the ball became too strong, and she stumbled and lost her grip on the sphere. She heard it clatter to the ground behind her, but didn't dare stop to retrieve it. Then a moment after, she sensed that the monster had stopped chasing her.  
  
"Miranda! Miranda Kolovski," came a voice from a nearby alleyway, "Quick, in here!" She picked up the largest rock she could find and proceeded into the alley.  
  
Who's there?" she asked nervously, "Whoever it is, I'm warning you now that I have an eighth-degree black-belt, so don't try anything." Of course, that was a lie. She only had an eighth-degree white belt.  
  
Looking around, she saw no one, and took the opportunity to remove all of her padding from the football game and catch her breath.  
  
"Miranda! I'm down here! Get this thing off me!"  
  
"Huh?" She glanced down at her feet, where the sound seemed to be coming from, and saw something moving beneath her shoulder pads. Warily, she lifted it, and beneath it was a small, yellow cat with an unmistakable orange star shape on his forehead. She had seen this cat before in the last few weeks.all over the place. It seemed to her as though he had been following her.watching her. He was always outside her house staring at her through the window. At school, every time she looked outside, he was right below the window, and he was always outside the school searching for her in the afternoon when they raced outside to catch the buses home. At first, she thought he was a stray, and was following her because of the one time she stopped to feed him, but now he was talking!  
  
"Y.you can talk?"  
  
"Yeah. It's a long story. My name's Apollo. There's no time to explain now. Just take this and say 'Antares Celestial Power.'" He dropped a small 5-inch wand at her feet with an odd crystal at the top, half-red, half yellow. At first, all she could do was pick it up and stare at it. There was another powerful energy in this wand, but it was completely different from that which she had felt before. This one did not clash with her own energy and cause a negative reaction, but rather she felt its energy flow into her, and hers into it. They merged. Its energy and hers became one, and it became a part of her.  
  
Then the tremors in the ground reminded her that the monster was still loose in the city and getting closer. Deciding that even though she was probably crazy or dreaming, she had nothing to lose and did as Apollo said. She held the wand high above her head, closed her eyes, and shouted out the three words that changed her life forever.  
  
"Antares Celestial Power!"  
  
She felt her feet leave the ground, and a swirling wind surrounded her. She felt a new power swelling inside of her and taking root inside her chest. The sensation was the most wornderful, unbelievable feeling she had ever felt. She couldn't have described it with words if she tried.  
  
When her feet once more touched the ground, she opened her eyes and looked at her reflection in a dark, spider-webbed window. She had changed a great deal. Her tee-shirt, dirty and sweaty from the game, had been replaced by a beautiful white leotard with a red collar and two yellow bows, one in front and one in back. A pair of gloves had appeared on her hands with red hems just above her elbows. Her grubby shorts had become a scarlet-red short-skirt, and her old, worn sneakers had become well-polished, crimson knee-high boots, each with a yellow strip across the top. On her forehead was a golden tiara with a yellow gem in the center. Red and yellow ribbons ran through her hair, accenting her curly, orange locks, which were still styled the same way (a small bun on the top running into a long ponytail), but it was a few inches longer and a shade or two darker. Her freckles were gone as well.  
  
The tiny wand in her hand was now a silver staff about a foot longer than she was tall. It still had the crystal on top, only now it was bigger. "Wow," she whispered to herself, "I look good!"  
  
"Yes, yes, you're absolutely beautiful, dear," chimed in Apollo, "But in case you've forgotten, there's still a rhino/horse/scorpion thing terrorizing your city. You may want to do something about that."  
  
"What? I'm supposed to fight that thing? How?"  
  
"Good question. You could start by finding it."  
  
"Right." Andi turned to leave the alleyway, but someone whom she immediately recognized was standing in the way.  
  
"Wha.H.How long have you been there?"  
  
"A.Andi? Y.You're a."  
  
"Too long, apparently. Look, Kirk, I.ahhh!"  
  
Before she could finish what she was saying, the monster appeared behind Kirk. It struck Andi with the meat of its tail, not the stinger, and knocked her back against a wall. Still holding the half-filled ball of silver dust, it laid a hand on Kirk's shoulder and the sphere rapidly began to fill up. Kirk's screaming stopped as well after a few moments.  
  
"KIRK!" she cried and struggled to her feet. She felt the new power surging inside of her and she somehow knew what to do.  
  
"Antares Firestone Rage!" As she said the words, dozens of flaming rocks materialized in the air and rained down on the monster. It roared in agony, letting go of both Kirk and the sphere. Miranda continued to concentrate on the assault until the creature fell to the ground, causing the earth to shake so furiously that she had to break her concentration and grab onto something.  
  
Then she pointed her staff at the monstrosity lying on the pavement and allowed the words to come to her. "Staff of Antares, banish this creature to the abyss from which it came, never to return!" A beam of light shot forth from the staff, and the monster vanished into thin air.  
  
Andi walked over to Kirk, awed by what had just occurred. He wasn't moving, but he was definitely alive. A few feet away from him was the monster's sphere, now almost filled with the silvery dust. It still radiated the same dark energy. She picked it up to examine it, ignoring the unpleasant numbing sensation it gave her hand, but found nothing that she was able to explain.  
  
She saw Apollo run out of the alley, and she hesitated for one last look at herself as she heard the sirens coming her way. She muttered to herself in utter amazement, "I'm a superhero." 


	3. Conspiracy

"Prince Feldspar, where are you?" Queen Mica called to her son, as she gazed into her crystal at the battle scene.  
  
"I am here, mother," said Feldspar as he materialized in front of his mother's throne. "What is your wish?" He laid his hand over his chest and bowed courteously, as did everyone who came into her presence without a death wish.  
  
"Come here. Look into the crystal and tell me what it is you see," she beckoned with one almost clawed finger, and he stepped up to gaze into the crystal sphere.  
  
"It appears to be one of the creatures you dispersed at an American football game. But I don't understand why you sent them. It seems as though they've just been sent to random places to."  
  
"Enough! I can only tolerate so much of your insolence before I do something you'll regret. Now," the tone in her voice abruptly changed to an eerie calm, tell me what else you see."  
  
He looked into the crystal once more at the chaos, and noticed what the creature was fighting. "But who could.it looks like a Sailor Scout, but how is that possible if they're all in Tokyo?"  
  
"They're not all in Tokyo, Feldspar. There are other Sailor Scouts from outside this solar system, but only one other is here on earth. That is why I've been sending my grunts to your so-called 'random places.' To find her." she gestured toward the Sailor Scout battling her creature, "That is Sailor Antares. Now just watch for a moment." He obeyed, and within a few seconds, the beast was down.  
  
Feldspar smirked, "hmm.most impressive!"  
  
"Calm yourself," said Queen Mica in a smooth but sinister tone, "Why do you expect I've been searching for her for so long rather than concentrating all my time and energy on eliminating the ones who destroyed my cousin, Queen Beryl?"  
  
"To finish her before she can stand in our way, my Queen?"  
  
"No, you fool! The Sailor Scouts were not only a match for my cousin, but were able to defeat her. Each of them is the guardian of a planet, but Sailor Antares is different. I've been seeking her out because she is the guardian of an entire star system, and is therefore stronger than the Sailor Scouts. And I've been doing it this way so that I can collect more Stardust Energy in the meantime."  
  
"I don't understand, my lady."  
  
"Sailor Antares is stronger than all of the Sailor Scouts combined. If she has the power to defeat them, then she could be a marvelous asset to the Negaverse, don't you think, my son?"  
  
"Yes. I understand now, mother."  
  
"Then you know what you must do."  
  
"Yes, my queen. My creatures will depart at once."  
  
"No, Feldspar. Not your creatures. It's obvious from what I've seen in my crystal that they will be useless against her. Go yourself, and take with you your sister and your most trusted generals. They're much brighter, more capable if something goes wrong, and not to mention more subtle. I don't want the other Sailor Scouts ruining this. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes, mother. Between Chrysolite, Pyroxene, Zeolite, and myself, I can assure you that nothing will go wrong."  
  
"Nothing had better, Feldspar. Or you know the penalty," she said warningly, brandishing her staff of souls in one hand. "You are dismissed."  
  
"Thank you my Queen." He bowed again, and disappeared, immediately to begin his mission. 


	4. Partners

After having defeated the monster, Andi was absolutely exhausted, but she forced herself to stay awake long enough to turn on the news and see what they had to say about the incident. Unfortunately, she was too tired to take much in. All that she managed to absorb before passing out on her bed was this:  
  
"The only victims of the attack were a pair of teenage boys by the names of Kirk Van Cott and Justin Alberts. Both boys are currently in catatonic state and are being rushed to the hospital as we speak. Only time and fortune will determine their fate."  
  
Her eyes fluttered open again and she lifted her head, which felt like dead weight on her neck to look at the clock. It was 3:48 A.M.  
  
She lay down again and closed her eyes, until she felt something moving on the bed with her. She opened her eyes again and saw, about four inches from her face, Apollo, the cat who had given her that weird wand the day before.  
  
"Ahh! What are you doing here?" she cried.  
  
"Shh! Keep it down, would you? It's about time you woke up! You snore like a tractor!"  
  
"Okay, that's it! This dream is getting way too freaky!" She pinched herself, using her fingernails to insure that she'd wake up. "OUCH!"  
  
"Watch it, Andi. You shouldn't do that so hard. Besides, this is not a dream. Welcome to the real world, Sweet Pea! You are Sailor Antares. Get used to it."  
  
"I don't know, Apollo.I always thought that giant monsters, Sailor Scouts, and talking cats in need of serious attitude adjustments all added up to dreaming. But then again, math never was my best subject.My second guess would have to be insanity."  
  
Apollo took a deep breath and sighed so as not to lose his temper. "Okay, look. You are not dreaming, and you're not insane. You are Sailor Antares, destined to be a defender of peace and justice."  
  
"Rrrright.And that would make you.?"  
  
"I'm your guardian, of course! Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus have them, so why shouldn't you? You're as good as they are!"  
  
"Okay.I'm almost following all of this."  
  
"Okay," once again, he had to take a deep breath before continuing. "I'll start from the beginning. Back in the Silver Millennium, when Queen Serenity ruled the Moon Kingdom, you lived in the Star Kingdom of Antares, which was an ally to the moon kingdom. In fact, you not only lived there, but you were their pride and joy. You were the heart and soul of the kingdom. To them, you were so much more than a princess! You were their hope. You were going to grow to be a great leader, like your mother, Queen Antares. She was their most powerful protector, and her beautiful daughter, Princess Antares.that's you.was the spitting image of her. The future was looking bright indeed!"  
  
"Woah, wait a minute! Leader? Protector? PRINCESS? I'm sorry but for some reason, I can't picture myself playing any of those roles!"  
  
"Hey! Do you want me to tell you this or not?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then shut up and let me finish!"  
  
Andi blinked. She was getting seriously annoyed with Apollo and all of his sass, but she wanted to hear the rest of the story, so she kept quiet.  
  
"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, you were Princess Antares, the only child of Queen Antares, and the last of the eight Star Guardians."  
  
"Star Guardians?"  
  
"Yes. You are not a Sailor Scout. You are a Star Guardian."  
  
"The difference being.?"  
  
"They're two completely different groups of people. The Star Guardians and the Sailor Scouts are very similar, but the Star Guardians are much more powerful than the Sailor Scouts."  
  
"Okay, and what do you mean by 'I'm the last of them?'"  
  
"The other seven, Sailors Altair, Rigel, Vega, Castor, Pollux, Sirius, and Polaris are.well.dead. You, Sailor Antares.You are the last one," he said regretfully. Andi could've sworn she heard a touch of guilt in his voice.  
  
She didn't want to make Apollo talk about anything that would upset him, but she felt like she needed to know. Even though she had no idea who these Star Guardians were, when Apollo told her that they were dead, she felt as though she had lost someone in her very own family, like her foster parents in the next room. She had to ask. "What happened to them, Apollo? How did they die?"  
  
He frowned. She could tell that whatever had happened, he felt partially responsible for it. "When they were just children, no bigger than three- year-old humans,, intruders broke into each of the Star Kingdoms' palaces one night using some strange evil power. They didn't steal anything. They didn't even enter the kings' and queens' chambers. They simply came, murdered the young princesses, and vanished. I was with you, and I sensed their presence and alerted the guards in time to save you, but I was too late for the others, and the other seven Star Guardians were destroyed."  
  
Andi was silent for a long moment, absorbing the news. A barrage of thoughts flooded her mind. Her feelings were so mixed that she didn't even recognize some of them. The only ones she did recognize were grief and fear. For some reason, she felt as if these children had been like her sisters. And for some odd reason, she found little comfort in that in one night, some unknown killer murdered seven people who were just like her.  
  
"So let me get this straight, Apollo," she said, "I'm not only a Sailor Scout.I mean Star Guardian.but I'm the only Star Guardian left who hasn't been murdered?"  
  
"Well, yeah, that's about the size of it."  
  
"And is whoever or whatever killed them still around?"  
  
"As far as I know. No one saw them so no one knows who or what did it. But if I felt that energy again, I would certainly know it." He surveyed her face and realized that he wasn't helping his case. "I guess this wouldn't be a good time to mention then that I sensed that energy today at the football game from that monster?"  
  
"Great!" she cried, "So these people are still around and they took out seven people with the same powers as me in one night and now I have to stand up and face them alone?! Terrific! Newsflash, Apollo: I'm not doing it! I'd like to be alive to get my college degree, thank you very much!"  
  
Apollo knew he was crashing and burning. He'd have to try a different approach. "Look, Andi. Whether you agree to it or not, Sailor Antares is who you are. You are as much Sailor Antares as you are Miranda Kolovski, and there are evil forces out there that need to be battled. We both know that no one else will do it because of what we saw that you were the only one at the football game who tried to do something useful before fleeing for your life. I know you didn't ask for all this, and I can't force you to accept it. But I will say that you only have two options here: You could forget this ever happened and go back to being content with your normal life. But if you do that, the negative forces I mentioned before will be able to run free and do as they please to you, your family, and the entire human race, in which case you could be enslaved or even killed without being able to do a thing about it.  
  
"Or on the other hand, you could accept your destiny and I could train you to be a great Star Guardian so you could get out there and whup those evil forces' butts-or even if you don't, at least you'd do more damage as Sailor Antares than you would as Andi."  
  
He waited a moment to see if she had anything to say, but she merely averted her eyes. So he decided to make a concluding statement. "The one way, you stand a chance, and you get to be a hero at the same time. Not to mention that there's never a dull moment. The other, you're sitting around on your duff while your world along with you and all the people in it are destroyed. A no-brainer if you ask me."  
  
"Well," she said hesitantly, "Since you put it that way, I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?"  
  
"Then you'll do it?"  
  
"I guess so, but I don't know the first thing about being a Sailor.er.Star Guardian."  
  
"That's why I'm here: to coach you. I'll teach you all you need to know. I'll teach you to use your energy attacks, and I can coach you in Ju-Jitzu, and."  
  
"Woah.hold up!" she interrupted, "You know Ju-Jitzu?"  
  
"I followed a bunch of girls around until I fount the right one," he explained, "and I paid close attention to that Shannon girl's Ju-Jitzu classes. So what do you say, Andi? Partners?" He held out a paw for her to shake.  
  
"Partners," She agreed, shaking his paw.  
  
"Good," he said, jumping up onto her dresser and from there onto her head. "Then take us somewhere private and let the training begin!"  
  
"Um.can I at least change out of my pajamas first?" 


	5. Exchange Students

(Tokyo, Japan-Three weeks later.)  
  
Serena ran the last few blocks to school in a mad dash to get to her homeroom. She ran so fast that her pigtails trailed straight out behind her like a pair of yellow streamers. "Oh no!" she cried panting, "I can't believe I overslept again! I'm gonna be late AGAIN!"  
  
She turned a sharp corner and felt an impact. She was on the ground before she knew it, as was the guy she ran into. Automatically, she started to apologize (this sort of thing happens to her all the time), but then she recognized him. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I was just late for.Oh, it's you, Darien."  
  
He stood up and dusted himself off. He was tall, with a medium build, short jet-black hair, blue eyes, and a very handsome face. He and Serena had become romantically involved some time ago, when they first learned the truth about each other. The truth being that he was Tuxedo Mask and she Sailor Moon, the Champion of Justice. Of course, he still loved to tease her like he did before then. "Late again, Meatballhead?"  
  
"DON'T CALL ME." she was about to say "Meatballhead," but then she realized that she was still late for class and took off running again. Darien chuckled and walked away laughing softly to himself.  
  
The late bell rang just as she stepped onto the grounds, and about a minute later, she ran through her classroom door and skidded to a stop, panting to catch her breath. She was startled to see four strange kids standing in front of the class and Miss Haruna glaring at her from her desk.  
  
Miss Haruna rose to her feet. "Late again, Serena? That's the third time this week!" "The fourth, actually," Serena corrected.  
  
The teacher sighed. "Sit down, Serena." And Serena did so. "Now that we're all here, I have a very special announcement to make." All eyes turned to Miss Haruna. "Today, we have four exchange students joining us all the way from America. Come on in, kids!"  
  
All the heads in the classroom turned as Miss Haruna beckoned the four students in.  
  
The first was an amazingly handsome guy with dark brown eyes and black hair in a rat tail. He was tall and muscular with a dark complexion. The second was a rather plain-looking girl with braided pigtails and brown eyes behind thick glasses. The third was an extremely tall, pretty girl with long, blazing red hair, a freckled face, and emerald-green eyes. She stood about 6'4," an inch or two taller than the first one. And last was a guy with scruffy, dirty-blond hair. He was shorter than the rest, and rather skinny, his grey eyes and blank expression made him all the more dull.  
  
"Would you kids like to introduce yourselves?" asked Miss Haruna.  
  
The tall girl spoke up first. "I'm Miranda Kolovski, but my friends call me Andi. I come from Richmond Virginia, and I like football, singing, dancing, acting. . ." Andi went on for a long time, but everyone had tuned her out. Some of the guys were admiring her pretty face, and the girls were all captivated by the handsome guy.  
  
Andi finally finished, and then the other three introduced themselves. "I'm Chris from Utah," said the skinny boy.  
  
"I'm Fred from Nevada," said the heartthrob.  
  
"I'm his sister, Paula," said the plain girl.  
  
The brevity of their responses startled the class out of their daydreams about Fred and Andi, and everyone said "Hello." Miss Haruna directed them to their seats: Fred beside Serena, Chris between Ami and Lita, Paula beside Molly, and Andi between Lita and Fred.  
  
"Hey! I'm Serena," she said to Fred.  
  
"Pleasure," he responded with a flirtatious grin.  
  
Then Lita-one of Serena's friends and another of the Sailor Scouts: Sailor Jupiter-chimed in. "And I'm Lita. Hey, Ami, Serena and I are gonna go meet some friends at the arcade after school. You guys are welcome to come along if you want to," she said.  
  
"Sounds like fun," said Andi with a bright smile.  
  
Fred and Chris nodded their agreement.  
  
After school, Serena, Lita, and Ami-Sailor Mercury-led the four exchange students to the video arcade where they were supposed to meet up with their friends, Rei and Mina. Rei and Mina were Sailor Scouts as well: Sailors Mars and Venus.  
  
Andi seemed to be the most excited of the bunch. Everything around her seemed to give her a thrill. Fred was grinning, but it was not the same. Paula and Chris didn't smile. In fact, they didn't even talk very much. Fred and Andi seemed to be making all the conversation.  
  
Then they caught sight of Rei and Mina across the arcade making their way over to the group. Lita smiled and said to them, "Mina, Rei, this is Fred, Andi, Paula, and Chris. They're exchange students from America."  
  
Mina smiled and wasted no time in beginning a flirting contest with Lita over Fred, but Rei on the other hand, only frowned at them and grunted a hello. When Andi set down her backpack to shake hands with her, she merely looked at it as though it was covered with slime. She was very cold to them. More so than to most people, and Serena and Ami both wondered why. Mina and Lita were too busy with Fred to notice.  
  
After the arcade, the nine of them decided to go to a nearby diner for lunch. The scouts-with the exception of Rei-were all anxious to show the exchange students a good time in Tokyo. During the meal, Rei, Chris, and Paula were all quiet, while the rest talked enthusiastically, trying to get acquainted.  
  
Then Rei pulled the scouts away from the others for a moment. She lead them outside with extreme exasperation on her face.  
  
"Rei, what's up?" Lita asked.  
  
Ami nodded. "Yeah, you're not yourself today. Did something happen at school?"  
  
"No," said Rei, "But I. . ."  
  
"Oh my GOSH! Did you see how cute Fred is?!" Mina squealed.  
  
"MINA!" Rei shouted, "Can't you guys take ANYTHING seriously? I need to tell you. Those exchange students. I'm getting serious Negavibes from all four of them!"  
  
"All of them?" Serena looked puzzled, "Even Fred and Andi?"  
  
"Especially Fred and Andi."  
  
"No way, Rei!" Said Mina. "You're just imagining things"  
  
"It's not my imagination, Mina! Not every cute guy in the world is a prince charming, you know! Look, I know what I sense from them, and they can't be trusted. We can't look suspicious, but we have to keep an eye on them."  
  
"Yeah, Rei, because snubbing them like you did wasn't suspicious at all," Mina shot back.  
  
"Actually, it was normal for her," Serena put in with a giggle.  
  
"You stay out of it, Meatball Head!" Rei shrieked.  
  
"DON'T CALL ME MEATBALLHEAD!"  
  
When the scouts walked back in and rejoined the group of exchange students, a new air of awkwardness hung over the table. The conversation was mostly between Fred and Andi.  
  
"So, Andi," said Fred at one point, "Paula and I are staying with the Wakatsuki family, and Chris is staying with the Takeshi's. What about you? Who are you staying with?"  
  
Andi reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. "Let's see. . ." Referencing it, she responded, "The Hikawa Jinja Temple on Cherry Hill."  
  
Rei choked on her food and nearly spit it out all over Paula. "That's where I live!" 


	6. The Invitation

Weeks went by of school with the new exchange students. She scouts watched them closely over that time, but they seemed nice enough, and pretty normal. In fact, although Chris and Paula kept pretty much to themselves, Lita, Mina, and Serena had come to befriend Andi and Fred.  
  
Rei, however, had been noticing some strangeness in their behavior. Andi spent a lot of time in her room with the door locked. Sometimes voices could be heard coming from inside. She had a small bag with her at all that she'd almost never open, and when she did, she'd just look, and always seemed cautious never to let anyone see inside. She had also noticed that Paula, Chris, and particularly Fred were constantly going out of their way to talk to Andi. This made her suspect that "Innocent-Little- Andi" was their leader.  
  
Everyone's excitement level had begun to rise due to the upcoming costume ball. All anyone seemed to be able to talk about was who they were going with and what they were going as. Andi and Paula were walking home with Serena, Lita, and Mina.  
  
"Are you guys excited about the masquerade ball?" asked Andi in an attempt to make conversation.  
  
Paula shrugged. "Are you going with my brother, Andi?"  
  
"Fred?" Andi blushed at the name. "Well, maybe if he asks me," a dreamy smile crossed her face. "He is kind of cute. . ."  
  
"Kind of cute?!" said Mina with shock at Andi's words, "That's gotta be the understatement of the century! He's a total heartthrob!"  
  
"And he really likes you, Andi." Lita added, "You're so lucky!"  
  
Andi stopped walking and the others turned and looked back at her. She tilted her head and said "He does?" She absent-mindedly started playing with a lock of her hair. "Did he tell you that?"  
  
Lita rolled her eyes. "No, but he didn't need to! Don't tell me you haven't realized how he's always hanging around you!"  
  
"Well, I. . ."  
  
"And the look in his eyes when he's with you," Serena added.  
  
"Actually, I really hadn't. . ."  
  
"Not to mention that you're all he ever talks about even when he isn't with you!" said Paula with a frown. "It's getting annoying!"  
  
Mina's jaw dropped in disbelief of Andi's shocked expression. "Come on, Andi! Get with it! You're the envy of every girl at school and you don't even know it!"  
  
Andi's silence seemed to suggest to the other girls that, despite the girlish blush in her cheeks, she wasn't sure whether or not this made her happy. She started walking again and changed the subject. "So what are you all going as?"  
  
Mina responded quickly. "A showgirl! And you should see my costume! It'll knock everyone dead!" she said, beaming.  
  
"I'm sure it's great," said Andi with a smile. "What about you, Serena?"  
  
"A fairy."  
  
"Cool! What color wings?"  
  
"Light purple. I'm hoping to give Darien something to stare at." She giggled.  
  
Lita snorted and nudged her playfully. "You say that like you still need to get his attention!"  
  
Serena grinned. "Alright then, Lita, what's your costume?"  
  
"Well, Ken and I are dressing to match. He's a cowboy, and I'm a cowgirl!"  
  
"Aww! That's sweet!" Andi cried. "I'm not sure what I'm going as yet. Paula?"  
  
"Oh, I don't think I'm going."  
  
"WHAT?!" All four of the others whirled around to face her, but she didn't stop walking.  
  
"Well I don't know yet. I mean. . .I may have something else to do that night. It all depends on whether or not I can get out of it."  
  
Before any of them could say another word, a steadfast hand came down stalwartly on Andi's shoulder and spun her around. All six girls now faced Fred, but he seemed oblivious to all of them except for Andi. For the longest time, neither said a word. They simply stared into each other's eyes. Behind Fred's, and saw a look of confidence, but not arrogance. . .Tenderness, but not timidity. It made her knees buckle, and she felt a little dizzy. When he finally spoke, his voice sent a shiver down her back.  
  
"Andi,"he said her name in whispered reverence as though it were the only word he'd ever wish to speak as he brushed a stray hair with a color like that of an Autumn sunset off of her face, letting his hand linger on her face. "Andi, will you go to the masquerade ball with me?"  
  
Andi's face took on the color of a ripe strawberry at Fred's touch. She looked as if she wanted to say "no" but her lips seemed to have other ideas. "Sure," she said with a weak smile, "I'd love to go with you!"  
  
"Great," he stroked her cheek with his thumb and continued smiling as though he'd never had any doubt in his mind that she'd accept his invitation. "I'll pick you up around. . .seven-ish?"  
  
"Actually," she said hesitantly, Ï prefer to walk. . ."  
  
"Okay. I'll walk with you."  
  
"You don't have to. . ." she started to say.  
  
"But I want to. So I'll see you at seven-o-clock on Saturday?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess so. . ."  
  
Fred gave a little salute and jogged off with a grin. When his back was turned, Paula stuck her finger in her mouth and made a gagging sound before following after him.  
  
Andi turned around to face the others and tightened her grip on her backpack. "I'd better get home," and with no more than that, she took off toward the temple at a run.  
  
Suddenly, out of nowhere sprang a yellow cat that started to take off after Andi, but Mina caught him and lifted him up. "Hey there, pretty kitty! Where'd you come from?" she cooed, noticing that he had no collar. Then she touched the orange star on his forehead.  
  
"Hey you guys, look at this!" The cat began to squirm as Serena and Lita moved closer for a better look. "Kind of reminiscent of Luna and Artemis, isn't he? I wanna keep him."  
  
Suddenly the cat hissed a warning and bit Mina's hand. "OW!" She dropped him in surprise, and he immediately bolted and disappeared around a corner.  
  
"Are you okay, Mina?" said Serena anxiously.  
  
"I'm fine. Just took me by surprise, that's all."  
  
"That was weird," said Lita, "It was almost like he understood you. . ." All three of them glanced at each other, and then stared after the cat. 


	7. The Favor

Ami sat beside Chris in her advanced science class, speaking casually with him to see if she could find anything out about what he and the others were planning.  
  
"So what made you decide to volunteer to come to Tokyo?" she asked.  
  
"Well, mostly because I'm totally fascinated by the history. I mean, to think all this started as a small fishing town called Edo! At that time, Kyodo was the capitol of Japan, and the daimyo, or the feudal lords, were constantly fighting over gaining control of the whole country. But it was Tokugawa Layasu that took control of Edo and, by the seventeenth century, turned it into not only the biggest city in Japan, but also the biggest city in the whole world! But his methods of doing so ended up isolating Japan from the rest of the world for two-hundred fifty years. Some people say it still hasn't fully recovered, but."  
  
Chris continued on for a long time, but Ami had stopped listening when Andi stepped shyly into the classroom and approached the teacher.  
  
"Excuse me, sir, but I was wondering, could I use the lab after school? I'd like to run some experiments."  
  
"Well, Miss Kolovski, I won't be here after school today. I have a meeting. Just what kind of experiments are you planning to do?"  
  
"The Yoshiwara was where most of the firing was going on." Chris continued and Ami nodded, pretending she was still listening.  
  
"Don't worry," she said quickly, "They're safe. I promise I won't destroy your lab or get hurt." Ami noted that the tone in her voice wasn't sounding too sure, but her teacher didn't seem to catch on.  
  
"Well, alright. I'll give you the key and then you can do what you need to do. But don't forget to lock up when you're done in there."  
  
"Thank you, sir." She said, accepting the key from him. "You can trust me."  
  
Andi left, and Ami turned back to Chris.  
  
".In the 1950's, and they used profits from the Korean War for more construction. They kept building and building, and now it's almost futuristic compared to most other cities, but it also contains elements of the past too. It's too bad that more people don't get to see Tokyo. It really is an amazing place."  
  
Ami nodded and smiled at him. "Wow! You know more about the history of this city than a lot of the people who live in it! I'm impressed!"  
  
((Note: I looked all that stuff that Chris said about the history of Tokyo up on and have to give them some credit.))  
  
After class, Ami told Lita all about what she had heard in science class.  
  
"Whoa," Said Lita, "That's weird."  
  
"What do you think we should do, Lita?"  
  
"One word: stakeout. We'll go to the science lab after school and find out exactly what she's up to."  
  
"You mean.spy on her?"  
  
"Exactly." 


	8. Espionage

Ami and Lita silently followed Andi down the hallway after school to the science lab. They ducked behind a door and held their breath as Andi turned the key in the lock with a loud click that echoed down the hallway. She looked around quickly as though making sure she was alone, opened it barely enough that she could fit, and then squeezed through. She closed it behind her and Ami and Lita were taken aback, but crept closer when they heard the click of the lock once more.  
  
"Why is she locking the door again? What is she doing in there?" Lita asked.  
  
Ami shook her head. "I don't know, but look!" Andi had turned off the light and closed the blinds on the door .  
  
"Whoa. . .why so secretive? I had thought she was a nice kid, but it looks like Rei was right about her!"  
  
"AHHH!!!" The two spies jumped at the sound of Andi's scream, and both pressed their ears against the door. "Don't DO that! What are you doing here?"  
  
"You really think that I was going to let you do this yourself?" came a male voice that they didn't recognize. "Come on, Andi! We both know that if I did that, you'd screw it up!"  
  
There was tense silence for a long moment before Andi responded. "Fine!" she snapped with more harsh irritation than they'd ever heard in her voice before. "But keep it down!"  
  
"Hey, I'm not the one who screamed, now am I? So where is it?"  
  
"It's in my backpack." There was another long pause. "Do I have to touch it again? Last time, it. . ."  
  
"Do you want to figure this out? You've got more to worry about here than I do."  
  
"Well. . .Can I at least use gloves?"  
  
"Do I look like I care?"  
  
Ami and Lita glanced at each other. "Who is she talking to?"  
  
"And what are they talking about that she doesn't want to touch?"  
  
"I don't know," said Lita, "But I know how we can find out."  
  
. . .A few minutes later. . .  
  
"Ow! Ami, that's my ear!"  
  
"Sorry, Lita. . .but this was your idea." Ami straightened and grabbed a hold of the window ledge as she stood on Lita's shoulders. "She's closed all the blinds, but I can see under them a little bit. I can't see who she's talking to, but. . ." She stopped and shuddered at the evil energy she sensed from the object that Andi held in her rubber-gloved hands. It was a transparent ball that was partially filled with weird, silver dust.  
  
"But what? What can you see?"  
  
Just as Ami was describing what she saw, Andi suddenly paused, and turned her head to look right at the window into which Ami was peering. "Ahh!" Ami was startled into losing her balance and fell down on top of Lita.  
  
"OUCH! Ami, what happened?"  
  
"RUN!!!"  
  
Lita didn't need to be told twice. She and Ami scrambled to their feet and made a break for the trees. 


	9. You Lie Through Your Teeth

Within half an hour, all five scouts were gathered at Lita's apartment with Luna and Artemis, their guardians, and Ami had explained what she had seen. "Freaky!" said Serena, "What was that ball thing anyway? And that dust inside it?"  
  
"We don't know," said Lita.  
  
"But I'm scanning the archive files in my computer for it now."  
  
"Don't bother," said Artemis. "We know what it is." All eyes in the room turned upon Artemis and Luna, waiting for an explaination. Most would have thought it strange that the two seemingly ordinary cats could talk, but the scouts had long since gotten used to it.  
  
"It's called an energy orb," said Luna, "Which is exactly what it is. They're hollow glass balls used to store stolen energy in the form of silver dust. Andi must be a general from the Negaverse."  
  
The next day at school, Ami, Lita, and Serena kept a close eye on Andi and the others. It seemed, however, that Andi was doing the same, wary of Ami and Lita. She approached them before lunch with a solemn expression. "Hey Serena! Lita, Ami, I need to talk to you. Why don't you two come have lunch with me today?"  
  
They glanced at each other awkwardly, then Lita turned around to face Andi and said with a bit of a nervous laugh, "Well actually, we promised we'd eat with Serena today, Andi. She er. . .forgot her lunch again, so we're sharing. Maybe some other time."  
  
"Tell you what. If you come talk to me, Serena can have my lunch since I'm not hungry anyway. How does that sound?"  
  
"Sounds good to me!" Said Serena immediately.  
  
"SERENA!" cried Ami and Lita together. But they both knew they were trapped when Andi set her lunch down in front of Serena. They followed her to an empty table, both tense and ready to defend themselves should the need arise. From the looks of it, however, Andi did not seem to want to hurt them. She sat down, and gestured for them to do the same.  
  
"From the expressions on your faces, you know what this is about already, so I'll just get right to the point before Fred, Chris, and Paula get here. Why were you spying on me yesterday?"  
  
"Spying?" said Ami, "We weren't spying on you. Why would you think we would do that?"  
  
Andi looked Ami in the eyes with an intensity that gave her chills and made her shift uneasily in her chair. "I saw you running into the woods, Ami."  
  
"We weren't there," Lita insisted. "You must have seen someone else," but her voice quivered as she said it. There was a strange power surrounding Andi that made even someone as strong as Lita nervous.  
  
"You know," said Andi with a calmness that resonated with anger, "your eye twitches when you lie. I won't be mad if you just tell me the truth."  
  
"Alright," said Ami, "We were there because I heard you ask to use the lab for something after school, and we thought we could help."  
  
Andi's eyes told them both that she didn't believe them, but she was not about to press the matter. They had admitted to being there, so now she needed an answer to her other question. "And what did you see?"  
  
"We saw you taking something out of your backpack. That's all."  
  
Andi was about to say something, but then she looked past them at Fred, Chris, and Paula, who were making their way over. "Look, it's really important that you just forget what you saw and don't mention it to anyone. It could be life and death. You can go back to Serena now if you want."  
  
And they did, just as the other three sat down. "What was that all about with Lita and Ami?" they heard Chris ask.  
  
"Nothing, Chris. Just talking about a homework assignment." So she was keeping whatever it was she was doing yesterday a secret from them too. They wondered why. 


	10. HotHeaded Firebird

Back at the Hikawa Jinja Temple, the more Rei watched Andi, the more suspicious she seemed to be acting. She spent more and more time in her room, she always had the door locked, and Rei frequently heard another voice coming from inside that she didn't recognize; Lita and Ami had confirmed that it was the same one they heard in the chemistry lab at school. She still carried around that bag that she was so determined not to let anyone see into, and she had recently been receiving mysterious phone calls from "home" and taking them in her room.  
  
Occasionally, Rei would here her say something like "Well, how much time do you think is left?" or "They haven't learned anything yet?" When she wasn't locked away in her bedroom like Quasimodo in the belltower, she was helping Rei's grandpa with chores around the temple, which made Rei even more suspicious. No one could clean the temple with a smile on her face. She was just waiting for the right moment to strike, and then she would use that orb to drain everyone's energy . . . or . . . at least that was the standing theory.  
  
The day of the costume ball arrived, and practically the entire school and more were there! Tensions had been growing increasingly high between Andi and the scouts. Although Andi seemed to be trying to act nonchalant, the scouts had gone painstakingly out of their way to insure that she knew they were watching her constantly. This, they figured, would dissuade her from trying anything, at least until they had more time to figure out exactly what she was up to.  
  
Rei walked into the gym and immediately began scanning the crowd for the others. She told them all to be there because a crowd like this would be the perfect opportunity for Andi and the others to strike. Besides, not that she would admit it, but she really wanted the opportunity to show off her costume. The dress was made of fine, fiery-red silk, as smooth and lustrous as a well-polished ruby, with golden flames embroidered all over it. The sleeves draped over her arms and hung loosely like delicate wings. She wore a feathered boa of the deepest crimson, and an eye mask decorated with twinkling sequins, scarlet feathers, and a false beak attached at the nose.  
  
"Hey, Rei!" someone called from behind her. She turned around to face Lita and Ken, dressed to match as a cowboy and a cowgirl, just like they had promised. They wore matching vests, matching boots, matching hats, of course. Darien stood behind them in a suit of armor. "Whoa! Nice costume, Rei!" Lita complimented her.  
  
"Yeah! You really went all-out! Firebird?" asked Ken.  
  
Rei beamed and nodded, then suddenly turned serious. She was getting tired of waiting. "It's about time!" she exclaimed. "Where are the others?"  
  
"Ami's around here somewhere. She's dressed as like a mermaid." Lita explained, then nodded at Darien. "Sir Darien here was looking for Serena too, but she's late again. And you know Mina; she probably wants to make an entrance."  
  
Rei gave and exasperated sigh. "Well they'd better get here soon because . . . "  
  
"Umm . . . am I missing something?" Ken interrupted.  
  
"Nope, not a thing," said Lita as she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him onto the dance floor.  
  
Darien stepped forward and whispered to Rei, "Lita told me what's been going on. Keep your eyes open, but try not to jump to conclusions. I have a feeling there's something more to this situation than we know."  
  
Just then, Serena stumbled through the door in a fairy costume, and Darien went over to her, so Rei started milling about in search of Ami. She wasn't particularly difficult to find, being the wallflower that she was. She sat well away from the dance floor, staring at her feet self- consciously. Of course, Rei knew she'd rather be at home studying physics or something, but this was sailor business. She had to be here. "Hi Ami. Nice mermaid costume."  
  
"Thanks, Rei, but it's nothing compared to yours! It looks beautiful on you!"  
  
Rei smiled a little. She just couldn't get enough of hearing that! "Thanks." Then she lowered her voice. "So, any sign of trouble yet?"  
  
"No," whispered Ami, "Paula and Chris are over there on the dance floor, but Fred and Andi haven't gotten here yet, and neither have Mina and her date."  
  
"Who is her date, anyway?"  
  
"I don't know. It's a big mystery. All I know is that it's someone Fred set her up with."  
  
"Fred, huh?" Rei commented with great aversion. "That's promising."  
  
All of a sudden, a hush fell over the entire room, and all was still as a young man strutted through the entranceway dressed in a tuxedo with a fake mustache and sprayed gray hair and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. Apparently, he was very much in the character of his game show host costume. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! My name is Zack Gilson and I'll be your host for tonight's show! Now, give a big round of applause for my lovely assistant, Miss Mina Aino!!!" Everyone applauded as Mina paraded through the archway in a flashy blue-and-gold leotard with a plumed headdress one might expect to see on one of the Rockets of New York City. She seemed to have her own personal spotlight focused on her, and loved every moment of soaking it up.  
  
It was not, however, the sight of Zack and Mina that made Rei's jaw drop and her cheeks flush; it was the two people behind her: Andi and Fred. Fred passed through the archway first in the guise of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, leading Andi close behind him into view. "You've gotta be kidding me!" Her pulse quickened, and she felt herself begin to hyperventilate with rage. "Why that dirty little . . . "She clenched her fists at her sides and felt the blood rushing to her ears. Andi smiled at Fred as he spun her around on the dance floor, wearing the exact same costume as Rei! 


	11. Punch In The Face

Rei spent most of the evening by the punch bowl, glaring at Andi and brooding. How dare she! She must have had some sort of mind-reading power from the Negaverse and wore that costume just to piss her off!  
  
"Hi Rei!" She whirled around to face Serena's friend Molly standing behind her. "Wow, you and Andi must be really great friends! You even wore the same costume to the party! You're like twins!"  
  
Rei felt her cheeks turn fiery red and snapped at Molly. "It's not the same costume! SHE is a phoenix! I am a firebird! There's a difference, you know!"  
  
"Oh gosh, Rei, I'm sorry. . . I didn't mean to upset you. . . Look, I'm just gonna go. See you later!" Molly hurried off, knowing that it was time to leave her alone. There was practically smoke coming out of her ears!  
  
Chris was dancing with Andi while Fred had gone to talk with Paula. His hands rested on her waist and hers on his shoulders. But there was something different about him. It was as if he was seeing her up close for the first time as she carried on a friendly conversation. He seemed dazed. . . almost in awe of something. She giggled a bit and blushed as she averted her eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that?"  
  
"Like what?" he said, sounding startled as if she had jostled him out of his thoughts. "Oh, sorry. Was I staring? I didn't mean to. I was just. . . thinking about something."  
  
It was hard to tell if his expression showed apprehension, guilt, confusion, or some combination of the three, but there was no doubt that he was not himself. But before Andi could say anymore, Fred reappeared and cut in on their dance. Chris looked as if he resented it, but did not have the courage to stand up to Fred.  
  
"Listen Fred," said Andi, stepping back from him on the dance floor with a frown. "Suddenly I don't feel like dancing anymore. I'm just gonna go sit down. Do you mind?"  
  
"Are you feeling alright?" He moved closer to wrap his arm around her shoulders, but she pulled away from his touch. "What's the matter?"  
  
"Nothing, Fred. I just. . . I need something to drink, that's all."  
  
"Do you want me to come with you?"  
  
"NO!" She said more sharply than she had meant to, but she didn't apologize. She turned and hurried over to the punch table.  
  
Rei forced a smile as Andi approached. "Hi Andi...getting tired?"  
  
"Yeah...I just needed to get some punch. Hey, check it out! We have the same costume! I guess it's true what they say: great minds really do think alike!"  
  
Rei bit the inside of her cheek to keep from strangling the girl. "Here. Allow me. . ." She took Andi's cup and began filling it with punch from the bowl.  
  
"Oh, thanks! Look Rei, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm not sure exactly why, but. . . do you think we could just. . . start over and be friends?"  
  
Suddenly, Rei just couldn't hold it in anymore. As she turned to hand Andi her punch, she pretended to trip and splashed the whole cup in Andi's face, while simultaneously stepping on the bottom of her dress, causing it to tear up the seam to a treacherous height.  
  
"Oh god! I'm so sorry! Here, Andi, let me help you!" She grabbed a pile of napkins and began wiping Andi's face so roughly that it was only making it worse by smearing all of her make-up and completely destroying her mask. On top of that, in the scuffle, the tear in her dress grew until a large portion of it was ripped completely off, revealing more than modesty saw fit.  
  
"STOP IT, REI!" Andi shrieked in outrage. "GET OFF ME! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!" She shoved Rei aside and tore out of the gym, running as fast as she could in her heels from the whispers and snickers of the crowd. Too mortified to stop, she did not even pause to wipe the tears from her eyes.  
  
Fred smirked and turned to Paula and Chris. "Things are going better than we had hoped. . ." 


	12. Red Alert

The whole room was still as everyone watched Andi flee. Fred and Chris followed her out to try and catch up with her, and then all eyes turned to Rei. Ami and Lita made their way over. "Was that really necessary, Rei?" said Ami.  
  
"Yeah, what happened?" asked Serena as she and Darien joined them, followed by Mina.  
  
Rei shrugged. "What do you want from me? It was an accident!"  
  
"Right," said Darien, "and Serena's punctual!"  
  
"Hey!" cried Serena and Rei in unison.  
  
"Look," said Rei, "I was trying to be nice, okay? I just sl—" Rei suddenly froze, staring straight ahead, wide-eyed. A chill ran up her spine, and she winced at the unpleasant sensation.  
  
"Rei? What's wrong?" asked Lita worriedly.  
  
"Something's wrong. . . I can feel it. . . Something really bad is happening!"  
  
They all glanced around nervously to make sure no one else was close enough to overhear. Once they were satisfied, they turned back to each other and lowered their voices nonetheless.  
  
"Scout stuff?" whispered Mina. Rei nodded her head in affirmation.  
  
"Let's find someplace more private to transform then." Everyone agreed with Darien and they all hurried out of the gym and ducked into their respective restrooms.  
  
"Ready? Let's go! VENUS STAR POWER!"  
  
"JUPITER STAR POWER!"  
  
"MERCURY STAR POWER!"  
  
"MARS STAR POWER!"  
  
"MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"  
  
And thus, cool music played as they all changed their clothes and struck really awkward-looking poses.  
  
"Come on!" said Sailor Mars (Rei, for those of you who don't watch the show), "I'll lead you!" And she took off at a run, with the other scouts trailing behind her. She rounded a corner onto a normally busy street when suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks, causing the others to run into one another. But they all gasped at what they saw.  
  
"Holy shit! What happened?" cried Sailor Jupiter (Lita).  
  
"I don't like this. . ." added Mercury (Ami).  
  
Everything was completely still except for the occasional flickering of a broken neon light or two. Everyone lay sprawled out on the ground, not moving an inch. Sailor Venus (Mina) ran to someone and gently lifted his head. "Who did this to you? What happened?"  
  
But there was no response. He was out cold. "Their energy has been drained," said Luna, running up to the group with Artemis in tow.  
  
"But who could have done this?" said Sailor Moon (Serena) looking out at the devastation.  
  
"Whoever it was, it looks like they're long gone by now. . . " Artemis said, glancing around.  
  
"Don't bet on it," said Tuxedo Mask (Darien), pointing at a silhouetted figure heading their way. 


	13. Pinnacle of Deception

The scouts began to approach the mysterious individual who was walking toward them, but a voice came forth from the person in a commanding tone. "Freeze!" The force with which the word was spoken struck them all so hard that they could not help but obey.  
  
As the figure continued walking closer and stepped into the light of a streetlamp, they saw a rather tall young woman with fiery red hair and striking green eyes. She wore what appeared to be a red-and-yellow Sailor Scout uniform, and held in her hand a long rod with an orange crystal mounted on the end that emanated an eerie glow. She held it at a menacing angle as she drew nearer, and there was such anger in her expression!  
  
"Stop right there!" Commanded Sailor Moon, beginning her usual pre- battle speech. "I am Sailor Moon, the Champion of. . . "  
  
"Can it!" said the girl, and she indicated all of the people lying unconscious on the streets. "They don't look much like they want to talk, and neither do I!"  
  
"Agreed!" came another voice. . .The same voice that Ami had heard in the science lab, and Rei in Andi's room. Everyone looked down and saw a little yellow cat standing beside her.  
  
"Oh my...APOLLO?!" cried Luna.  
  
"Well," he shot back, "If it isn't Prissy-Pussy Luna!"  
  
"But. . .That's impossible!" exclaimed Artemis, "If you're Apollo, then she must be. . . "  
  
"That's right," said Apollo, "Antares. So why don't you all save yourselves an embarrassing defeat and just surrender?"  
  
"Because we're the Sailor Scouts! That's why!" shouted Sailor Mars. "MARS FIRE IGNITE!"  
  
"MERCURY ICE BUBBLES FREEZE!" The two attacks wizzed though the air at Antares. But she was ready. She leapt nimbly backward and Sailor Mars's and Sailor Mercury's attacks collided and cancelled each other out with a loud hissing sound.  
  
"Nice try," Antares rose to her full towering height. "But it's my turn now! SEISMIC. . . " She raised her staff high over her head, "QUAKE. . . " Her feet levitated off of the ground and she rotated the rod once. "WAVE!" As she screamed out the last word, she brought it down and struck the ground with it, and all at once the earth below them trembled, causing them all to fall on top of one another.  
  
"Ow! Jupiter, that's my arm!"  
  
"Sailor Moon, you're on my hair!"  
  
"Sorry, could you just. . . oof!"  
  
Antares gave Apollo a stern look as he snickered at all of the girls tangled up in each other.  
  
"Look!" cried Mercury, pointing at the energy orb now floating over them.  
  
Sailor Mars only glanced at it for a moment. She could have sworn she felt something in the. . . "AHHH!"  
  
"SAILOR MARS!!!" The scouts all scrambled to their feet to help her, as the orb floated in the air over their heads filling with silver dust.  
  
Antares watched for a moment as Mars hung limply in her friends' arms, then leaped through the air over their heads and snatched the orb out of the air. Quickly, she wheeled about and raised her rod in the air once again. "Rod of Antares. . . Teleport!" And then Antares vanished. . . along with Apollo and the orb. 


	14. The Legend Of The Star Guardians

Serena, Ami, Lita, and Mina lowered Rei gently onto a couch at the Hikawa Jinja temple and lit candles and incense with stimulating fumes to revive her. Just as her eyelids fluttered open, Andi walked into the room, having changed into her pajamas. She paused and looked at the girls in silence for a long moment, wearing a deep frown before turning on heel and ascending the stairs.  
  
As soon as she was gone, Luna and Artemis jumped up beside her. "How do you feel, Rei?" asked Artemis.  
  
"Not too bad. She didn't take a lot of energy."  
  
Luna was muttering under her breath. "Stupid little. . . how dare he. . . I can't believe. . . of all the nerve. . . Well I never. . . "  
  
Lita raised an eyebrow at her. "Umm. . . You okay, Luna?"  
  
"She's alright," Artemis answered for her. "She just never really got along with Apollo very well, that's all."  
  
"Speaking of which," Mina chimed in, "Who exactly are Apollo and Antares? You two obviously know, so care to fill us in?"  
  
"Apollo is the rudest, most obnoxious, disrespectful. . . "  
  
"Ahem. . . Luna, maybe I should take this one," Artemis interrupted. "Antares is one of the eight Star Guardians, a group much like the Sailor Scouts, only more powerful. But they were all killed by an assassin from the Negaverse when they were just children, except for Antares. But Antares had been on a diplomatic mission the moon kingdom when it was attacked, and she vanished. Everyone thought that she and her guardians were dead too, but apparently not. Apollo is one of the Star Guardians' mentors, like Luna and I are yours."  
  
"But if they were like Sailor Scouts, wouldn't that make them good guys?" Serena asked.  
  
"They were good guys," answered Artemis.  
  
"Apparently," said Luna with a heavy sigh of regret, "while it's not surprising that Apollo would betray us, I just can't believe that Princess Antares would. . . While it's never been heard of before for any Star Guardian, least of all Antares, to align herself with evil, I don't suppose it's impossible."  
  
"So how do we fight her? Tell us everything you know about Antares and the Star Guardians."  
  
"Unfortunately, we don't know much. Antares herself is the guardian of stone, so all of her powers pertain to earth and rock, and come from her rod."  
  
"There's also a legend about the Star Guardians, but no one really believes it. Not even Apollo. There are a few who think it's a prophecy, but it's really nothing more than a nursery rhyme."  
  
"Well let's hear it anyway, Luna."  
  
"Well, alright, here goes:  
  
_Eight guardians of eight realms  
Born together in one place,  
Share a common destiny  
Behind each starlit face.  
Polaris, sure and wise,  
Antares, brave and true,  
Castor and Pollux, the Gemini,  
Determined as any two.  
And with Vega's compassion,  
And Sirius's loyalty,  
Rigel's inner strength,  
And Altair's hope for time to be.  
Together the eight can defeat  
Most any evil force  
That threatens peace within their realms  
With friendship as their source.  
So strong is the bond they share  
Not even death can bid them part.  
When death claims one, her soul lives on  
Within the others' hearts.  
And when the last of the eight  
Is gone, we needn't mourn.  
For once united by their death,  
The eight will be reborn._

That's how it goes, girls." Luna finished her recitation.  
  
"I'm going to destroy that orb tonight," said Rei after taking a moment to absorb everything.  
  
"Are you sure? What if she catches you?"  
  
"What choice do I have? I can't let her use it to hurt anyone else with it."  
  
"Alright, fine," said Serena, "Just be careful."


	15. Shards Of Spirit

Chris and Fred dropped by to talk to Andi later that night. "Look, I'm really sorry about tonight," said Fred. "Maybe I can make it up to you somehow."  
  
"Really, it's alright. It was a red dress anyway."  
  
"Yeah," he insisted, "but it's the principal of the thing. Besides, I'm offering to buy you dinner at the best sushi restaurant in Tokyo. How can you pass up an offer like that?"  
  
"Like this: No thanks, Fred. I have...things I need to do. I'm sorry."  
  
Chris stepped forward, almost timidly. "Do...do you want help?"  
  
"No," she said firmly, "Thank you, but it's personal. It's something I need to handle by myself."  
  
"Oh...Alright then, come on Fred, we should go."  
  
"No. Not yet, Chris. I want to make sure she's alright. Are you?" A cold shiver ran up her spine as he turned back to her.  
  
"I...Yes, I'm fine Fred. I'm just really tired. Please go."  
  
"Are you sure, love?"  
  
"Yes, I'm sure and please don't call me that!"  
  
"But Andi...I thought you were my girlfriend."  
  
"I never said I was your girlfriend. Get out."  
  
"Come on, Fred, seriously, let's go."  
  
"Alright fine. But let me know if you change your mind. I really like you, Andi."  
  
"If I change my mind, I will. Now leave me alone."  
  
"Alright then. Au revoir, ma cheré." He kissed the back of her hand and took off. Chris stayed for a moment and looked at Andi as if he were going to say something, but then thought better of it and followed Fred out of the temple.  
  
A few hours later...  
  
Rei rose up out of her bed and glanced at the clock on her bedside table. It was 3:26 A.M. Andi was probably fast asleep by now, and Rei had rested long enough to regain her energy.  
  
She stepped into her slippers to quiet her footsteps and slipped out of her room into the hallway. It was dark, but she knew the temple well enough not to have any accidents, and she knew exactly where to find her grandpa's keys and a hammer. With both in hand, she approached Andi's door.  
  
She managed to unlock it quietly, without waking Andi, and left it open in case she did wake up and a quick exit became necessary. She crept up to the bed and looked beneath it for her book bag where she kept the orb. Upon locating it, she pulled it out and raised an eyebrow at Andi, muttering under her breath, "How can one person snore so loud?!"  
  
Presently, she raise the hammer, ready to bolt out the door, knowing this would probably be very loud, but when she struck, there was no sound as the orb shattered into a hundred pieces beneath the blow of the hammer, and the silver dust that spilled all over the floor vanished.  
  
Suddenly a blood-curdling scream split the night as Andi sat up in bed. Rei tried to run, but she felt weak, and her legs were like jell-o.  
  
Andi screamed and writhed, shrieking like a banshee as if in agony. Looking up, Rei saw that Andi was still unaware of her presence, as whatever pain she was experiencing held her eyes shut tightly. With a sigh of relief, Rei rose shakily to her feet and started toward the door, when she heard an all-too-familiar voice. "Andi?! Andi, are you okay?! What's going on?!"  
  
Oh great! Apollo was coming! With a burst of strength, she surged forward and sprinted out the door just as the little yellow cat appeared in the window and leaped onto Andi's bed.  
  
"Andi? Andi, come on, answer me, you moron! You're scaring me!"  
  
"A...Apollo? It hurts! Help...me! Make it..._STOP_!"  
  
"Okay, easy, calm down...lie back down on the pillow, take slooow deeeep breaths and try to relax."  
  
She did as he instructed until she could once again bring herself to open her eyes. "What's going on? What's happening to me?"  
  
Apollo looked from the open door to the shards of glass on the floor. "Um...Ya think maybe _that_ has something to do with it?"  
  
Andi looked down at the remains of the orb and the hammer beside them, and her eyes widened. "No!" she cried and scrambled out of bed, not noticing nor caring that the shards of glass were cutting into the bottom of her bare feet. "Kirk...Justin..."  
  
Her eyes began to sting as turned to face the open door, knowing that this was no accident. 


	16. Dropping Eaves

Rei met up with the others after school outside the temple where they would not be overheard.  
  
"Did you do it, Rei?" asked Mina.  
  
"Yeah," she said, "Yeah, I did it."  
  
"Is everything alright?" Serena asked at seeing her expression.  
  
"Fine, why?  
  
"You just seem. . .distracted." Lita added with concern.  
  
"Yes, and Andi wasn't in school today," Ami observed. "Why not? What happened?"  
  
Rei sighed and recounted the events of the night before. "Okay, so I snuck into her room and shattered the orb with a hammer, but she woke up screaming bloody murder, and I felt really weak. Then Apollo came, but I got out before they saw me."  
  
"She woke up?" said Ami in surprise. "She shouldn't have woken up!"  
  
"What do you mean? Rei hit the thing with a hammer! That would even wake SERENA up!"  
  
"I ran a search in my computer archive files for Energy Orbs, and it said when someone carries one, its energy combines with their's over time. So when Rei destroyed the orb, Andi should have been destroyed too."  
  
Rei paled visibly. "You mean I could have. . ."  
  
"Unless. . ." said Mina, thoughtfully, "She hasn't had the orb long enough for it to fuse with her."  
  
"As for Rei feeling weak," Ami explained, "I also found out that the energy inside an orb doesn't return to its owner when it's released. Instead, the same amount gets taken again."  
  
Rei's eyes widened. "Oh god! That explains this morning!"  
  
"What do you mean? What happened this morning?" asked Lita.  
  
Rei took a deep breath, and then told the story.  
  
Andi had slept later than usual that morning, and said she had been feeling quite ill. She had only gotten up out of her bed when Rei had called to her and told her that she had a phone call from Richmond. She had jumped out of her bed and ran to the phone as fast as greased lightning, so Rei decided to listen in on the conversation.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Miranda? This is Mrs. Alberts, Justin's mother." Rei could hear tears in the woman's voice.  
  
"Oh my god, are they okay? _Tell_ me they're okay!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Miranda."  
  
"No! They can't be! Please, you have to do something! You can't just let them. . ."  
  
"Please, dear, I know it's hard for you. It's hard for me too, so please don't make it worse."  
  
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Alberts. I'm so sorry!"  
  
"Oh come now, Miranda, don't apologize. There was nothing you could have done."  
  
There was a long silence before Andi had spoken again. "Please, Mrs. Alberts. . .tell me when it happened."  
  
"It was the oddest coincidence that it happened at the same time. They both passed away at around 12:31 yesterday afternoon. You're in Tokyo, so it would have been around 3:31 A.M. there."  
  
Rei dropped the phone and gasped. Two people had died at the same time that she shattered the energy orb! 


	17. Revelation

Rei, Serena, Ami, Lita, and Mina returned to the temple to see what they could learn about what had happened. Who were the two people in Virginia that had died when she broke the orb? How did Andi know them? What was their connection to this whole situation? But as they neared it, they saw Chris standing at the door waiting for someone to let him in.

They were all surprised to see Chris without Fred or Paula, but as they got closer, they could see his troubled expression. What was wrong with him? And why was he here? And why was it more and more questions were popping up, and never any answers?

They came up to him and Rei tapped him on the shoulder. He seemed to jump nearly out of his skin and nearly cried out at her touch as he spun to face the five girls. Immense relief washed over his expression when he saw who it was. "Oh, it's you," he said, trying to catch his breath. "What are you all doing here?"

"Uh. . . I live here, remember?" said Rei, "Something I can do for you?"

"Oh right. . . Yeah, I need to talk to Andi right away. It's really important."

"She's not feeling well today. Do you think you could come back tom—"

"No!" he said with surprising forcefulness. "I _need_ to see her now!"

"I'm sorry," Rei snapped, "but you can't—" then something in his eyes made her stop. Perhaps it was the dread, or the urgency, or the regret. . . or perhaps a combination of all three. But the feeling of sincerity she received from him far overpowered any evil she could ever sense. "Come inside."

Chris went inside after Rei, and the other girls followed behind them. She showed him Andi's door, and at first he didn't even bother to knock. He soon found, however, that the door was still locked, and raised his hand and gave three loud bangs on the door. Rei had to grab his wrist to calm him down before he put his fist through the wood.

"Wh. . . who's there?" came Andi's voice from inside after a long moment, shaky and muffled by sobbing.

Chris took a deep breath and then said more gently, "It's Chris. I need to talk to you."

"P. . . Please just leave me alone. I...I don't want to talk to anyone right now."

"Andi," Rei commanded, "open the door!"

Then her voice took on an angry tone. "Go away! I said I don't want to talk!"

"Please, Andi!" Chris stepped forward, gesturing for Rei not to get involved, and she grudgingly stepped back. "Listen, I know you're upset and you're not feeling well, but this is a matter of life and death! You have to listen to me!"

The girls all looked at each other, stunned. Life and death?! He had looked worried, but they had no idea it was quite _that_ serious! A long silence passed. The air was so tense that any one of them could have cut it with a knife. They all watched the door. . . waiting. . .

After what seemed like forever, they heard the "click" of the door unlocking, and Chris turned to them and said "Thanks, but this has to be a private discussion." He watched them leave the room, and then opened the door and disappeared inside. As soon as they heard the door close behind him, they returned and stood next to the door, listening in on what was being said.

"Alright," they heard Andi's voice come from inside, "what's so important that you thought you could just walk in here without knocking first?" She was not her usual self at all. Whoever it was that had died the night before had to have been very important to her.

"Andi. . . " they heard him say, obviously trying to keep his voice low, "I know your secret."

"What secret? What are you talking about?" but her voice suggested she knew exactly what he meant.

"Antares, please, there's no time for games. You've been deceived and you're in a great deal of danger."

"Deceived? By who? About what?"

"The other night in the street. . . That whole thing was a set-up intended to turn you and the Sailor Scouts against each other. You thought that the Scouts had sent the youmas that you had fought off before because there was no one else there, and they thought that you had drained everyone's energy for the same reason. And when Sailor Mars lost her temper and attacked, the plan had succeeded. That was what was intended. That you would mistake each other for the enemy."

"But Chris. . . Who set it up then? If it wasn't the scouts, then who sent the youmas?"

Although they could not see it, they could somehow tell that Chris hung his head as he spoke at that point. "I did. Along with Fred and Paula."

Andi sounded shocked. "But. . . Chris, why? Why do you want me to fight the Sailor Scouts?"

"Look, Andi, we're not who you think we are. We're not Paula Fred and Chris. My name is General Chrysolite, and Fred and Paula are really Prince Feldspar and Lady Pyroxene. We're from the Negaverse, and we were sent by Feldspar and Pyroxene's mother, Queen Mica, to do this. The plan was that you would fight the Sailor Scouts and kill them, and then while you were still weak from the battle, we would. . . We would kill you too."

The scouts outside all sucked in a sharp breath of air at what they had just heard. All that time they'd had the complete wrong idea! But then. . . Why did she have an energy orb? And why did she wake up screaming bloody murder when it shattered?

"So. . . " said Andi after a long pause during which she absorbed all that information, "what about the orb? How did that fall into all of this?"

"Well, we weren't expecting you to take it after you battled that first monster back in Richmond, but we figured that as long as you had it, we could use it to our advantage. Feldspar can control the energy orbs, and he was hiding out in an alley and he was the one who made it take Sailor Mars's energy."

"But what about what happened when it broke? Why did it hurt me, and kill Justin and Kirk?"

"Well, as for you, when you carry the orb, it binds itself to you. It's energy fuses with your own, and when it was shattered, you felt like you, in effect, were shattering too. If you had been holding it much longer, you would have been killed when it broke. The boys, well. . . their energy was inside the orb, but when it's released, it doesn't return to them. In fact, anyone whose energy is in the orb when it shatters is drained of the same amount all over again."

Rei gasped and whispered "That's why I felt so weak afterward!"

"Since they had a great deal of energy taken from them, the new drain was enough to kill them."

For well over a full minute, no one spoke. Finally, Andi's voice was heard again. "Chrysolite. . . why are you telling me all this?"

"I'm not sure," they heard his footsteps moving toward the door and scrambled to get away from it. They ducked out of sight just as it opened, and they heard him say, "I guess it's because. . . I really like you, Andi. But don't tell _anyone_ what I told you or I'm as good as dead. And. . . be careful. I have to go." And without another word, he hurried out of the temple, brushing past Paula and Fred as he went.


	18. Change of Heart, Change of Plans

Rei and Andi sat at the breakfast table the next morning, trapped in an awkward silence. Guilt was gnawing at Rei, making her so nauseas that she could barely touch her food. But she refused to let it show. She released the feeling in the form of anger, wanting desperately to be able to shift the blame to someone else. She stared at Andi with a scowl throughout the entire meal, furious with her, oddly enough, for not being evil. She just could not stand being wrong, especially not when proven to be so in front of all of her friends.

At one point, Andi raised her eyes and met Rei's gaze. They were heavy and bloodshot from having stayed awake until indecent hours crying hysterically. Rei had to look away, finding herself unable to look into the green sea of hurt that was each of her eyes. . .hurt that she knew that she had caused. Oftentimes, silence speaks louder than words. This was one of those times.

As Andi left the temple to go back to school, Serena, Ami, Lita, and Mina were waiting outside for her. For a moment, she paused, unsure of why they were there. Then after studying them . . .their faces . . .their energy . . .She knew. She moved closer to them, until they were face-to-face. One-by-one, she shook their hands, exchanging a wordless apology, before they silently walked to school together.

Upon their arrival, Fred and Paula came running up to Andi and each took her by one hand, anxious concern on both of their faces. But this time it was different. A cold shiver went down her spine at their touch, and all at once she realized that she had felt this from them all along! But how could she have dismissed it the way she did? It seemed so obvious to her now and silently she cursed herself for not having seen it before.

But she had to act as though nothing had changed, so she had no choice but to let them lead her away from the four Sailor Scouts.

Serena, Lita, Mina, and Ami tried to follow them, but they couldn't do so without looking suspicious. So they all went about their business as usual, although very tense. Throughout the day, they saw Fred and Paula never leave Andi's side, no matter how anxious she seemed to get away. And they saw Chris avoiding all three of them like the plague. The whole thing frustrated them to no end knowing that they couldn't really do much about it.

Andi tried everything she could think of to get away from Fred and Paula with their lies and feigned sympathy. It sickened her inside how they hounded her acting as though they were the only friends she'd ever had in the world. Her stomach churned and twisted itself into knots at the thought of how stupid she'd been and she felt as if she might lose her lunch if she did not get away from these two. She needed to talk to Chris, but she could not seem to get close enough to him.

After school, she saw him walking off of the campus and called out to him, "Chris wait!" The Serena Ami and Lita were just leaving the building in time to see him pause and glance back at her. He made as if to concede and walk toward her, but then he suddenly turned and hurried off at the sight of Fred and Paula approaching Andi from behind.

Fred put his hand on Andi's shoulder, and the three scouts witnessed a change…no…a complete transformation in her. Something seemed to explode behind her eyes and a torrent of rage rushed out of her in sudden release. She whipped around and flung his hand away from her roughly with an outraged shriek. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME, YOU LYING PIECE OF SHIT!!" she cried before she could stop herself.

Fred put on a half-puzzled, half-hurt expression and looked at her pleadingly, but now she could see right through his masks and lies. "Andi, what are you ta-"

"SHUT UP!! JUST SHUT YOUR GOD DAMN MOUTH!! YOU MADE ME THINK YOU HAD FEELINGS FOR ME WHEN ALL THIS TIME . . .JUST GET AWAY FROM ME!!" She shoved him back and turned and ran back toward the temple. Serena, Ami, and Lita watched Fred and Paula glance at each other, then glare in the general direction where Chris had run.

"I think it's time to go . . ."

"I'm with Serena . . ." quickly they all hurried back to their homes to contemplate everything that had happened.

Each of the five scouts, and the one remaining Star Guardian lay tossing and turning in their sleep from restless dreams. Come the morning, they all still felt utterly exhausted.

After school, the scouts had all met at Lita's apartment. She was baking some of her famous homemade cookies when Andi came in the door. Rei rolled her eyes in irritation. "Don't they teach you Americans to _knock_ first?"

Andi opened her mouth to shoot a comeback, but then stopped herself. She was winded and needed a moment to catch her breath. "Are you okay?" Mina asked, moving closer.

She held up her hand, signaling Mina to stop. "I'm fine . . ." she gasped. "I can't find Chris anywhere . . .And Fred and Paula are missing too . . ."

"What's your point?" spat Rei. "I say good riddance!"

"I think they might hurt Chris . . .And it'd be all my fault . . .I . . .I need your help!"


	19. What Goes Around Comes Around

"CHRIS! CHRIS, WHERE ARE YOU!" The six girls ran up and down the streets searching for him, but to no avail. He was nowhere to be found and the searchers were becoming anxious and irritable.

"Let's check the theatre district again."

"We already looked there three times!"

"Well I don't see you with any better ideas!"

"Fine then! You go look again! We're gonna go check the park!"

"Fine! Contact us if you find anything."

With that, the group split in two: Antares with Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus—Sailor Mars with Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury.

After a few minutes, Sailor Mars stopped short, and her friends nearly ran into her. "What is it, Mars?" asked Sailor Moon, stepping up beside her.

"I sense something. . ." she said slowly. . . "This way. . ." She took off at a run, with the other two trailing behind her, until they found themselves face-to-face with their old friends, Sailors Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

"S. . .Sailor Pluto," stammered Mars, "What are you doing here?"

"We sensed something was about to take place. . .Something terrible, and we came to help. What's going on?" asked Sailor Pluto with concern.

Just then, Sailor Venus appeared on their communicators. "Girl's, we found them! Here's the coordinates! Hurry!"

"Come on," Mercury said to the others, "Follow us. We'll explain on the way."

And so they did. They arrived at the park, winded, to find Jupiter and Venus holding Antares back, despite her stubborn protests, waiting in hiding for them. Fred and Paula. . .or rather, Prince Feldspar and Lady Pyroxene, as they were currently attired. . .held between them the weakened body of Chrysolite, and stood before a portal. He was struggling feebly, but it was no use. There was a dark mystique of energy emanating from the portal that sent shivers down all of their spines, but for some reason, they weren't stepping through it. They stood beside each other, facing away from the portal.

"Why are they just standing there?" whispered Mercury.

"It looks like they're guarding it or something. . ." suggested Sailor Moon.

"With a prisoner?" Mars pointed out.

"They're waiting for me. . ." Antares said, her quiet voice like a dam holding back a lake full of rage.

"A trap. . ."

"I'm going out there."

"Oh no you don't!" said Mars, grabbing her by the back of her collar as she tried to confront them. "What are you, stupid? That's what they want you to do!"

"But they can't be counting on all of us being there with her," Sailor Saturn pointed out. "Especially not the four of us."

"I can't just sit here!" Antares insisted. Wrenching herself free from the scouts' grip, she burst out of hiding, brandishing the Rod of Antares. "Release him!" she ordered, an almost regal command in her voice.

Feldspar smirked. "Finally," he said, "I thought you'd never show!"

Chrysolite lifted his head shakily and stared out at Antares through blank eyes. "A. . .Antares. . .Don't. . .Get out of here. . ."

"You heard me!" she demanded. "Do as I say, and I won't hurt you quite as much!"

"My, my, aren't we touchy! Well if you're going to make threats instead of asking nicely. . .sister, if you would be so kind? Don't worry: I've got this under control."

Pyroxene nodded and stepped through the portal with Chrysolite just as Feldspar drew a dimly glowing sword and held it ready for battle.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" came a shrill voice from behind Antares. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was. "I am Sailor Moon, the champion of Justice! I will right wrongs and triumph over evil, and that means you! In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"

Feldspar looked at her and rolled his eyes. "Don't you ever get tired of using that same speech all the time? It's about time you came up with something new!" He grinned as the other scouts came out of hiding. "Well well. . .this is a surprise! All of the scouts together. . .Excellent. The more the merrier!"

"Umm. . .He doesn't look worried," Sailor Moon whispered to Jupiter. "Why doesn't he look worried?"

"Because he's an idiot, that's why. . .JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!" Jupiter released her attack, aimed square at Feldpar's chest. He raised his sword to block it, and she grinned, knowing that would never help. . .But then the attack was sucked into the sword, which now glowed with an eerie green light. "What the. . .!"

"Care to try again, anyone?" he said with a smug grin that served only to infuriate the scouts and Antares.

"As a matter of fact, I would! MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" Feldspar's wicked laugh filled the park, echoing menacingly in ten pairs of ears.

"Is that the best you can do?" he said, raising his head in challenge, looking particularly toward Antares.

"God, could you get any more cliché?" came a voice from behind them. "Come up with something original, why don't you!"

"Apollo! What are you doing here?"

"I'm your guardian, remember? So show this asshole just what a Star Guardian can do!"

"Oh help me. . .it's a talking cat with a mouth on it." Felspar sneered.

"You're gonna regret you said that, buddy!" Apollo threatened as Antares raised her rod over her head.

"I call upon the power of Antares. . .Lend me strength. . .This is for Kirk and Justin! ANTARES MAGMA PROMINENCE!" She swung her rod almost like a golf club, and in arc of glowing hot molten rock flew forth toward Prince Feldspar.

The attack cast an orange, flickering light over the faces of the astonished onlookers. For only a few moments, the whole park was alight with the eerie hue, but then the light was extinguished when Feldspar's sword absorbed the Magma Prominence as well.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Feldspar's sword pulsed with sickly green and fiery-red luminosity, casting eerie shadows across the smug grin that was his face. Never had he seemed more like a monster than in that moment than ever before.

He turned his demon-like face toward Sailor Venus. "Care to try your luck?"

In a moment of brainsick panic, she did. Raising her hands over her head, she cried out, "VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!" The chain raced toward the fiend to entangle him but suddenly, in a display of blinding light, waves of lightning, fire, and molten rock burst forth simultaneously from Feldspar's sword.

Antares gasped as she was struck square in the chest by Jupiter's Oak Evolution attack, and a bare moment later, while she was still stunned, her own Magma Prominence washed over her, sapping her strength and forcing her to her knees. As hard as she tried to bite it back, she could not prevent the blood-curdling scream that exploded from her lips.

"Antares!" cried Apollo, but when he and the scouts tried to run to her, Mars's Celestial fire blocked their path, surrounding the severely-injured Star Guardian. "You cowardly son of a bitch! Why don't you fight for yourself instead of using everyone else's power!"

"What goes around comes around, you know. I onlydo what gets the job done," he stated simply, "like so." He took his sword and redirected Venus's Love Chain at Antares.

"Hah!" said Apollo. "That'll never hold her! She's too powerful!"

"Look again," said Feldspar, holding one end of the chain. "She may possess great power, but she's far too wounded now to use it. So why don't you just go cough yourself up a hairball?"

"Don't need to," Apollo shot back. "You look enough like one I hacked up last week that no one will know the difference."

"Touche," Feldspar complimented, "I'd love to stay and continue our verbal ping-pong match, but I'm afraid I must be going. . .Thank you all for your assistance. I couldn't have done this without you."

With a wave of his hand, Antares floated up off the ground, her body limp and her mind barely conscious, and Prince Feldspar stepped through the portal before anyone could stop him. . .pulling Antares along behind him. . .

"A-Ap-poll-o. . ." And then she disappeared through the portal. . .into the Negaverse.


	20. Enter the Negaverse

"ANDI NO!" cried Apollo, running up to the portal as it started to close. "Artemis, Luna, help me!" He put his paw through, and winced at the feeling of deadness it caused.

"Apollo," said Luna, appalled, "You saw what just happened! You can't expect us to just-"

"PLEASE!" he cried through clenched teeth. "Please, you have to help me Luna! It tore me apart when I lost the others! I can't lose Antares too! You can't leave her there! I'm her guardian! I know you hate me, but don't let her pay the price for that!"

The two cats glanced at each other momentarily, then raced forward and each put a paw through the portal, taking in a sharp breath at the cold numbness that raced to their brains.

"Girls, go!" Luna commanded. "We can't hold it for long!"

The nine Sailor Scouts didn't need to be told twice. They jumped through the portal one-by-one, followed by Apollo, but it closed before Luna and Artemis could join them.

The scouts found themselves in a huge cavern-like room full of imposing-looking stalactites and stalagmites the size of giant trees.

"Someone sure knows how to set the mood," mood, mood, mood, mood…

"Shush Apollo!" pollo, pollo, pollo, pollo…

Their voices echoed over and over throughout the cavern, and quickly they took cover behind any sufficiently large stalagmite they could as they heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

Peering out, Apollo saw Feldspar and Pyroxene headed for a double-doorway, with intricately-carved and painted symbols on it, making it seem out of place. They all leaned in closer to hear what was being said on the other side.

"Well? Is the mission complete?"

"Well, mother, things did not go exactly as planned."

"What does that mean, Feldspar?"

"The general has turned against us. He told the girl everything."

"I told you what the penalty would be for failure. Now she'll align herself with the scouts!"

"Not so."

"How do you figure, Pyroxene?"

"A gift for you, Mother. I give you the traitor, and the last of the Star Guardians. Bring in the prisoners!"


	21. Lethal Bravery

Sailor Mars opened the door a crack and peered inside, while the others crowded around to get a look for themselves. Apollo poked his head through the opening and Mercury had to grab hold of his tail to keep him from rushing into the room in a rage.

The throne room was grand…in a creepy, evil Negaverse kind of way. It was also surprisingly empty. Two guards stood on either side of the throne, upon which sat a woman who bore a disturbing resemblance to Queen Beryl. "Mica…" Apollo hissed out the name and made a face as if he wanted to cough up a hairball.

Antares and Chrysolite were shoved forward at spear-point with their hands bound in front of them. Both were in sad shape. Their clothes were torn and stained with blood as if they'd been lashed, and their arms and legs were badly beaten. They staggered forward barely able to stand, and one of the guards handed Antares's weapon to Prince Feldspar. He then turned and knelt before Queen Mica and held it up to her in both hands. "My Queen, I present to you the Rod of Antares."

Apollo growled low in his throat as Mica gingerly took it in her hand and examined it. "Quite the work of art you have here, my dear," she said, turning to Antares. "I must say, I'm rather disappointed...I would have expected more from the last Star Guardian..." She reached out with the rod from where she was sitting and used it to lift the girl's chin. "So at the end of the day...this is all that the great Antares is...broken and defeated."

Antares jerked her head back and suddenly knocked the rod aside. Mica was taken by surprise, and the rod clattered to the floor rolling off to the side. "Well well," said Mica, rising to her feet and moving to stand in front of the captive, who met her gaze defiantly. "What have we here? So there is still some fight in you after all..." She lowered her face to Antares's level and whispered, "We'll have to fix that." The young prisoner's face scrunched up, apparently at her captor's breath...but then without warning, she spit in the queen's face.

"Yeah!" Apollo exclaimed from his hiding place. "That's my girl!"

"Gah! You miserable wretch!" Mica shrieked, staggering back and tripping over the Rod of Antares. "I promise you, your suffering will be great indeed! As for you, Chrysolite..." She turned to him with a sneer and kicked him in the ribs. She smiled at his painful outcry and continued. "You know the penalty for betraying me."

"I do..." he responded in a hoarse whisper. "The Black Shard..."

"What's the Black Shard?" Sailor Jupiter whispered.

"Nothing good," answered Apollo. "It's what destroyed the other seven Star Guardians. It's that dark crystal on the end of her Staff of Souls...When it touches someone, it binds itself to them, and drains their life force. And they can't let go until they're..."

"Dead..." Sailor Venus finished for him.

"Exactly."

They watched, mesmerized as the shard rose from Mica's staff. "We have to do something!"

Everything seemed to happen all at once in slow motion...Sailor Mars burst through the door as the shard flew through the air at Chrysolite. Mars would not make it in time! Suddenly, in a burst of speed and strength, Antares tore free from the grip of the captors and threw herself at Chysolite, knocking him out of the way just in time.

"ANDI!" Apollo screamed, racing into the room with the rest of the scouts behind him. Chrysolite stared up at Antares from the floor where he had fallen in utmost horror. He could see the Black Shard protruding from Antares's back...she stood only for a moment before she collapsed, dropping to the ground in a pool of her own blood.

"NO!" Chrysolite cried, scrambling over to where she had fallen. Gently he lifted her head and placed it in his lap. He stared into her eyes, only able to bear their unfocused gaze because he could not steel himself to look at the Black Shard where it had penetrated her chest, pierced her heart, and jutted out from her back...She had been impaled by it. "No no no, Andi! Please, you can't!"

Apollo rushed over and begged and pleaded. "God, Andi! Not like this! You can't go like this! Say something! Please, you can't die!"

Her head lolled to the side and she muttered weakly, with blood trickling out the side of her mouth... "I...I'm s-sorry...I c-can't...I can't...Chris…Ap-pollo...Thank y-you...Thank...you..." A black aura surrounded her as the crystal shard sucked away what was left of her life force and her breathing became shallow and labored...

Chrysolite's face steeled and he grabbed hold of the Black Shard. He cried out as he felt it draining him as well...but try as he might, he could not pull it out until its job was done. Antares's eyes slowly drifted shut as it became impossible to resist anymore. Chrysolite wrenched the crystal out as she drew her last feeble breath. Mere moments later, the shard slipped from his fingers as he too sank to the floor, his hands and clothes stained with Antares's blood, and closed his eyes...forever...

((A/N: No, this is not the end. There are still two more chapters))


	22. A Prophecy Fulfilled

"Well," Queen Mica cackled malevolently, "That was easier than I expected...Who knew the last of the Star Guardians was that dim-witted! Not that I'm complaining about killing two birds with one stone...Now where was I? Oh yes...Now for—"

"YOU DEPRAVED BITCH!" The queen was cut off as Apollo lunged for her throat, fangs bared, and claws extended, with a howl of outrage.

"Why you…" Mica raised her hand to protect her throat, and Apollo latched onto her forearm with his teeth in an iron hold. "Get off of me, you flea-bitten beast!" She shrieked, shaking her arm vigorously to remove the vicious vermin fastened to her forearm in a vice-like grip.

"Apollo!" cried Sailor Moon, rushing in with the others following close behind her.

Mica flung him away with a sudden surge of strength consequential of a swift adrenaline rush, but she let forth a bone-chilling screech as he took a fair-sized chunk of her flesh along with him.

Venus ran forward and grabbed hold of Apollo before he could hit the wall. He vehemently spit the torn flesh from his mouth, gagging with the astringent aftertaste it left in his mouth.

Mica fumed as she watched the thick, black blood ooze from her arm. "You wretched mongrel!"

She reached out for the Black Shard and summoned it to her, and it settled neatly into place at the end of her staff. "You are going to wish you hadn't done that!" She raised her arm, brandishing the Staff of Souls, and made to throw it at Apollo and Sailor Venus.

"Oh!" Mica let out a startled cry as she was forced to drop the staff. It clattered loudly to the floor as Mica looked from the blood pouring out of the newly-formed gash in her hand to the scarlet rose sticking out of the floor. "How dare you!" she squalled, whirling about to face a mysterious caped figure who stood half in shadow.

"Tuxedo Mask!" squealed Sailor Moon, "You're here!"

He ignored her girlish outburst and addressed Mica. "That's enough Queen Mica! You've taken more than enough lives already! These two had souls bright and shining as the stars, and _you_ took them away from us! But I promise you now that their deaths were not in vain! They died for love, the force that shines brighter than a thousand suns, and such a light cannot be doused! Not even by a soul as cold and black as your own!"

"Feldspar, why are you just standing there! Destroy him!"

"Not today, Feldspar!" Sailor Moon blocked his path and he snarled in rage.

"Out of my way, Moon pest!" He raised his sword to strike.

"Mercury Bubbles Blast!" The air suddenly filled with thick fog, making it impossible for the prince to see to strike Sailor Moon. Jupiter leapt into the air and kicked it out of his hand as the haze cleared.

"Ahh!" he grabbed his hand in pain and turned furiously toward his attacker, but Sailor Moon cut him off.

"You may _think_ you've destroyed them, Mica, but you haven't! Chrysolite's love for Antares conquered the evil that _you_ put inside of him and he risked _everything_ for her! And Antares was such a sweet, fun-loving girl and one of the most amazing people I've ever met! She was bright, hard-working, and loyal, and she brought joy to everyone around her. People like Antares and Chrysolite cannot die. They live on in the hearts of all of the people whose lives they touched. Their spirits are still very much alive inside us, Mica, and for what you've done to them, I shall punish you in the name of the moon!"

Mercury stepped up beside her friend. "Their destiny was their own to decide."

Venus followed Mercury's example. "They chose friendship and love while you chose hatred and anger."

"That is why you can't win now," Jupiter added matter-of-factly.

Last **but **not least, Mars stepped up beside the others. **"**We've all learned a lot from those two, and now we're going to use what they taught us to avenge them."

As each scout was saying her peace, only Apollo seemed to take much notice of the gentle glow that began to emit from Antares's body, and slowly grew in intensity until it became blinding. Mica, Feldspar, and Pyroxene shrieked and shielded their eyes when the light was at its brightest.

"What's happening?" Mars asked, unable to take her eyes off of the light.

"It's the Star Guardians," Luna whispered in awe. "The prophecy is coming true!"

All eyes in the room were transfixed on the luminous corpse lying in the midst of them as the light rose up above Antares's lifeless body in the form of a glowing orb of constantly-shifting colors. They swirled and shifted in mesmerizing patterns, until they finally dividing into eight smaller spheres of light, each of a different color.

"No way..." Apollo whispered, shaking his head in disbelief. "When the last of the eight is gone, we needn't mourn, for once united by their death, the eight will be reborn! The legend is true!"

Each of the lights grew and took the shape of an incorporeal little girl, each an apparition of pure light, casting a full spectrum of color on the bleak terrain of the Negaverse. The red orb grew larger than the others, taking the shape of Antares, and she took up position beside Sailor Moon, the others following suit.

"What the!"

"Impossible!" cried Mica, lashing out at the ethereal bodies with her staff, but it merely passed right through them.

Antares turned to her allies. "We have to end this now. Are you ready, Sailor Moon?"

"Of course!" She held the Silver Crystal high up over her head.

"Let's do this!" said Uranus, reaching up and touching the crystal, lending her strength to Sailor Moon. "This is for the destruction of an age-old alliance! URANUS STAR POWER!"

Neptune, Saturn, and Pluto soon joined them. "This is for using innocent people to settle your own scores! NEPTUNE STAR POWER!"

"This is for the loss of two beautiful lives! SATURN STAR POWER!"

"This is for all the joy they might have had that you took away from them! PLUTO STAR POWER!"

The little girl bathed in yellow light announced boldly, "For the compassion it takes to be there for someone in need! VEGA CELESTIAL POWER!" She returned to the form of a ball of orange light, and she flew into the Silver Crystal and was absorbed by it.

The orange child followed her example. "For the ties of loyalty that come from true friendship! SIRIUS CELESTIAL POWER!"

"For the will to carry on in dark times! POLLUX CELESTIAL POWER!"

"For the motivation to persevere! CASTOR CELESTIAL POWER!" The black light and the white light joined with the crystal together.

"For the wisdom in knowing the right thing to do! POLARIS CELESTIAL POWER!"

"For the strength it takes to do what needs to be done! RIGEL CELESTIAL POWER!" The purple and the green followed.

Pale blue was next. "For the hope that makes it worth waking up every morning! ALTAIR CELESTIAL POWER!"

Apollo felt his eyes begin to sting as he watched Antares, the last one left. She smiled at him as if to thank him for everything, than closed her eyes and said her piece. "For the courage to set and fulfill one's own destiny! ANTARES CELESTIAL POWER!"

Mica howled in outrage and lashed out once more as Antares disappeared into the Crystal, but she was too late, and the light it was emitting burned fiercely into her skin.

"Our turn," said Sailor Mars to the others. "For Andi!" she reached up and touched the crystal. "MARS STAR POWER!

"For Chrysolite! MERCURY STAR POWER!"

"For justice! JUPITER STAR POWER!"

"For friendship! VENUS STAR POWER!"

"For love! MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"

The Silver Crystal thrummed with energy as if it were anxiously anticipating what was about to happen. Eighteen voices rang forth boldly, echoing throughout the Negaverse as the heralds of their victory. "FOR THE UNIVERSE!"

Garish light filled the room until nothing could be seen but an immense veil of white. A deafening roar split the air, as if the ground itself were shattering. Prince Feldspar leapt blindly in front of his mother, trying to deflect the blow with his magical sword, but he was overwhelmed. The final screams of Queen Mica, Feldspar, and Pyroxene were lost in the devastating noise of the Silver Crystal at the peak of its energy, infused with the powers of all eight Star Guardians and all nine Sailor Scouts...

And then all fell away into silent, serene blackness...

((A/N: Just one more chapter, guys...Sorry this one took so long.))


	23. A Fresh Start

Rei's eyes fluttered open with a groan and she felt cold earth beneath her. Looking down at herself, she found that she was in her street clothes, lying on her back at the park where the portal had opened. "What...? How did...?"

She sat up slowly, shaking out her throbbing head, and immediately two hands were extended to her. Serena and Darien were standing in front of her, reaching out to help her to her feet. She took their hands and looked at their somber expressions. Serena had tears in her eyes, and no doubt so did all the others if she looked around.

It didn't take her long to realize that she was weeping herself, harder than any of the others. Quickly, she wiped her eyes and tried to put on a brave face. They had just defeated Queen Mica, Feldspar, and Pyroxene, but nonetheless, it did not feel like a victory to anyone, least of all Rei. She couldn't bear to turn and face her friends. She had fallen for Feldspar's trick and fallen hard. Perhaps if she hadn't, Antares and Chrysolite wouldn't have been killed.

Slowly, the group gathered closer until they embraced each other, trying to offer what comfort they could at the loss they had suffered. They really hadn't even known her for very long, and in that short time, they had done almost nothing but make her life difficult, and now she had died trying to save someone who then died trying to save her. It all just seemed like such a waste...

The group hug finally pulled apart at the sound of loud sniffling behind them. They turned to see Apollo. His rage and adrenaline having faded, his eyes were filled with grief and spewed a stream of tears.

Luna approached him cautiously. "A…Apollo, I…"

"Don't!" he said, shortly, and she froze where she stood. "I don't need your sympathy! I screwed up and now I have to deal with my failure…"

"Apollo, you haven't failed! You-"

"Haven't failed, Artemis! I was supposed to be their guardian, and all freakin' eight of them were MURDERED!"

"But that was…meant to happen," Luna pointed out hesitantly. "According to the legend…"

"'Once the last of the eight is gone, we needn't-"

"Mourn!" Apollo cut her off sharply. "They were just _kids_, Artemis! They didn't ask for any of that and they didn't deserve it! They barely had a chance to live! They…They…"

"Apollo, it was their destiny. They had to die in order to fulfill it."

"Oh yeah, well who decided that? Because I've got a bone to pick with them! It's not fair to ask them to risk their lives or make the kinds of sacrifices they have to make! The kind the Sailor Scouts have to make too! What good is it saving the universe again and again if this is the cost!"

His words were met with silence. Luna and Artemis cast worried glances at one another, and for once, Luna did not know what to say. Slowly they backed away from him, and time slipped away for what seemed an eternity before Rei stepped forward and stroked Apollo's fur softly.

"Apollo, listen to me," she said slowly. "I know this hurts you. It hurts all of us, but if I learned anything about Andi since I met her, it was that she was okay with the risks involved. Her battle wasn't about her, just like our battle isn't about us. She put everyone else before herself, even Chrysolite, who had been trying to kill her when they first met. She wouldn't have jumped in front of that crystal because destiny forced her to. She made that choice. It was her decision to give up her life, and because of that, Mica and the others were destroyed. They can't hurt anyone anymore, and Andi wouldn't want you to be like this because of it. Besides, what was the last line of the legend, Luna?"

"'Once united by their death…'"

"The Eight will be reborn," he finished for her.

"It's not over for them, Apollo," said Artemis, "And it's not over for you. You're getting another chance. A fresh start."

"Great," he said sarcastically. "I'd better get going then. I've got eight kids to find this time…" he grumbled under his breath as the Sailor Scouts bid him goodbye and waved. He went off muttering, "A fresh start...Easy for him to say...He doesn't have to track them all down again..."

THE END

((A/N: Sorry for the long wait between updates, guys, but it's finally done! Hope you enjoyed! Please R&R!))


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